The Legacy Of ProhibitionClick on the map to find out your state’s current liquor laws.Select your state to find out your laws

Washington

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

Local option (no dry counties); state repealed state-control of wholesale, retail sales of spirits in 2012; state issues licenses but liquor distribution and liquor stores privatized; licensed private liquor distributors must pay state 5 percent tax on gross sales; distributors must post for retailers lists of wholesale prices for liquor and cannot change or discount prices; cities may ask state to declare part of a town where drunkenness is common an “alcohol impact area” and restrict retail alcohol sales there; brewery employees may sample beer as it is produced as long as “the licensee or employee does not become apparently intoxicated”; to obtain a license to serve spirits, wine and beer, restaurants must offer service of at least eight complete meals, a complete meal being “an entrée and at least one side dish”; in a nightclub, barriers preventing minors from entering where liquor is served “must be at least forty-two inches high.”

Wyoming

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores, but all alcohol must be sold in a licensed separate room

Additional Information:

ABC state; local governments issue local licenses; state controls wholesale liquor distribution, state licenses, enforcement; state licenses more than 90 liquor industry representatives, 29 beer wholesalers, three liquor manufacturers and more than 820 out-of-state wine shippers (2016); had 140,000 square foot warehouse to store state liquor supply; state has more than 1,250 privately-owned retail businesses; offers retailers an online ordering system; retail liquor licenses limited by local population – only two licenses allowed in towns under 500 people, no more than one additional per 500 people in cities up to 9,500 people, then no more than one per 3,000 people above 9,500 people; no more than three other retail liquor outlets allowed within 5 miles of a city or town limits except for beer-only businesses; cities, towns may grant “restaurant liquor licenses” but amounting to not more than 50 percent of the number of their licensed retail outlets; state directs city of Laramie to issue special beer license for the student union at University of Wyoming.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

No dry jurisdictions; local ordinance many restrict hours for Class A licensees for beer and liquor off-premises sales; but for Class B businesses that sell either off-premises retail beer, spirits or wine, or serve beer, spirits or wine on-premises (per drink) law says “municipalities may NOT further restrict the closing hours” mandated by the state; cities may obtain up to 20 temporary single-day Class B wine-only licenses per year for “wine walks” and an unlimited number of temporary single-day Class B beer-only licenses for “beer walks”; sellers of beer, spirits may serve customers up to two, 3-fluid ounce taste samples between 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; it is a felony for a Class A licensed business to have any video gambling devices on premises and to have more than five of the machines at a Class B business; on April 5, 2016, voters in the small village of Ephraim on the Door County peninsula passed two referendums allowing sales of beer (Class B license) and wine (Class C) after being “dry” for 163 years (since 1853); Ephraim’s vote came as the state’s Wisconsin 2015 Act removing “local option” elections on alcohol sales took effect as of April 27, 2016.

West Virginia

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

ABC state, but controls only wholesaling and distribution of hard liquor to licensed private retailers; wines sales privatized in 1981, state-run retail sales repealed in 1990; state has 178 privately-owned retail liquor outlets (2016); uses bidding process for liquor outlets and has then rebids every 10 years; licensed private suppliers and distributors handle wine; beer sold under franchise agreement system; licensed winery or wine retailer that obtains a “shipper’s license” may directly send up to two cases of wine per month to a customer’s home; “All advertising of wine which encourages intemperance, makes the consumption of alcoholic liquor appear to be glamorous, is lewd or obscene, induces minors to purchase, or tends to deceive or misrepresent, is hereby prohibited”; “nonintoxicating beer” is defined as beer with between 0.05 and 12 percent alcohol by volume; state in 2016 passed “brunch law” for on-premises sales of alcoholic drinks starting at 10 a.m. Sundays.

Virginia

Rating:

2 out of 5
Dry

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine grocery stores, spirits at liquor stores

Additional Information:

ABC state; local option; state operates wholesale and retail sales of spirits, sold only at ABC stores; state has 351 ABC stores (2016); 9 of state’s 95 counties are dry; ABC granted full police powers against bootlegging since 1936 (employs 85 enforcement agents); agents oversee 18,900 retail businesses licensed to sell alcohol; beer and wine sold by private distributors that deliver to retail stores; no alcohol sales after 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, all day Christmas; food must be at least 45 percent of the business for restaurants to qualify to serve alcohol; tastings limited to 12 ounces at breweries, 5 ounces at wineries and 3 ounces at distilleries.

Fun Facts:

Licensed restaurants are permitted to extend a “corkage fee” to patrons who bring beer or cider in with them in sealed containers. Two-sided sidewalk signs outside a restaurant advertising a “happy hour” must not be more than 17 inches by 22 inches. And while pitchers of sangria were legalized statewide in 2008, it’s prohibited for bars, clubs and restaurants to serve pitchers of others kinds of mixed drinks such as margaritas.

Vermont

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

6 a.m.-midnight, daily; bars, restaurants: 8 a.m.-2 a.m., drinks at bars must be consumed by 2:30 a.m., one hour later on New Year’s Day

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine in grocery stores, spirits liquor stores only

Additional Information:

ABC state; local option permitted but no dry counties; state oversees all retail sales of spirits, sold by private contracted agents (retailers); bars, restaurants buy from the contracted retail stores; there were 80 agency stores in 2016; wholesalers of beer and wine have franchise contracts with state to supply retailers; employees of off-premises liquor stores must be 15 to sell beer, on-premises wait staff must be at least 18 to serve alcoholic drinks; state requires liquor control training to obtain liquor license; beverage service training for servers is mandatory.

Utah

Rating:

2 out of 5
Dry

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Low-alcohol 4 percent by volume (3.2 percent by weight) sold in grocery stores; beer above 4 percent, wine and spirits sold in state liquor stores

Additional Information:

ABC state; operates state-owned stores and contracted package liquor agencies selling liquor save for beer under 4 percent alcohol by volume; 44 liquor and wine stores, more than 100 package liquor or contracted stores; state publishes monthly retail price list of different brands and types of liquor; in bars, restaurants, “heavy” beer above 4 percent by volume may be sold only in bottles, tap beer must be only 4 percent; cocktails limited to 2.5 ounces of liquor each; state licenses distilleries, wineries, breweries.

Fun Facts:

Restaurants that opened since 2009 and that serve alcoholic drinks must have a state-required barrier of seven feet, two inches tall so that the bartender may mix cocktails out of the sight of customers and any children there may not witness it. The barrier, often made of opaque glass, has been nicknamed “The Zion Curtain.”

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Additional Information:

Local option; 7 dry counties, 53 wet counties, 194 counties mixed wet and dry (2016); legal hours for alcohol consumption are Monday-Saturday 7 a.m.-2:15 a.m., noon-2:15 a.m. Sunday; spirit distilleries may make up to 3,000 gallons a year for sale on premises, 3,500 gallons for off-premises sales; brewpubs may make 10,000 barrels of beer a year for consumption and sell up to 1,000 barrels of it to retailers; brewers making up to 125,000 barrels a year may sell 40,000 barrels to retailers.

Fun Facts:

Companies that are publicly traded, with more than 35 people holding ownership shares, are prohibited from holding package liquor licenses except “a package store located in a hotel.” That upsets public company store chains such as Wal-Mart. Also, Texas limits people from owning more than five liquor stores in the same county. However, “persons related within the first degree of consanguinity” (that is, blood relatives) who already own two or more stores may “consolidate” more than five of their families’ stores.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Additional Information:

Wine retailers must by law sell each bottle with at least a 20 percent markup from the wholesale price; a grocery store allowed to sell alcohol must have at least 20 percent of its sales from food and be at least 1,200 square feet; starting in 2017, beer between 6.25 and 10.1 percent alcohol by volume may be sold in liquor stores and taprooms; breweries are limited to serving beer with a maximum of 6.25 percent alcohol by volume.

South Dakota

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

7 a.m.-2 a.m. daily for off-sale beer and wine; 7 a.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Saturday for off-sale package liquor, with sales of spirits, beer and wine permitted on Sundays and Memorial Day by local law, but not Christmas Day; bars close 2 a.m.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores, liquor stores

Additional Information:

Local option to decide if liquor may be sold or if a license may be renewed; one dry county -- Oglala Lakota County, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation; table waiting staff age 18 to 20 allowed to uncork and pour wine at a licensed restaurant if less than 50% of the restaurant’s gross business comes from sale of alcoholic beverages since it is “considered a normal adjunct of waiting on a table”; unfinished wine at the restaurant must be recorked, the bottle placed in a bag with the receipt, then the patron must place it in the trunk of their car, or in locked glove compartment or behind seat in area not occupied by the driver or passengers; state-licensed beer manufacturers limited to brewing 5,000 barrels of beer per year.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine at grocery stores, spirits at liquor stores

Additional Information:

Local option by referendum for counties for sales hours, temporary liquor permits, but no dry counties; no alcohol sales on Christmas; reduced prices for drinks, “happy hours,” permitted from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Liquor stores only

Additional Information:

Local option; beer brewers limited to selling up to 72-ounce “growlers” onsite, but are allowed to sell to distributors and retailers; Class A licensed liquor retail stores allowed in cites of 10,000 or more people must sell only liquors and non-alcoholic beverages except for things such as “… pretzels, chips, olives, onions, cherries, hot stuffed cherry peppers, Slim Jims…”

Fun Facts:

State law lists the kinds of free food that holders of a Class C bar license may offer to their customers: “popcorn, crackers, bread, pretzels, sausage of any type, pickles, sardines, smoked herring, lupino beans, and potato chips.”

Pennsylvania

Rating:

2 out of 5
Dry

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine grocery stores, spirits at liquor stores

Additional Information:

ABC state; local option available for municipalities; as of 2015, state runs 600 Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores and service centers where licensed retailers may pick up wholesale spirits, wine, beer, or have them delivered from state distribution centers; in 2016, comprehensive law passed allows licensed grocery stores and restaurants to sell up to four bottles of wine for “takeout”; law permits stores licensed to for takeout beer to sell wine, gas stations may to sell up to six 6-packs per customer; law removed ban on sales during holidays and restrictions on Sunday sales at state stores.

Fun Facts:

The state has 684 townships and boroughs that are completely or partially dry, with 530 banning retail sales of liquor and beer, 122 prohibiting the retail sale of beer only, and 32 not allowing the retail sale of spirituous liquor.

Oregon

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine, cider in grocery stores, spirits in state-contracted liquor stores but grocery owners may apply for spirits sales permits as well

Additional Information:

ABC state; state controls wholesale sale of spirits to state-appointed liquor agents licensed to manage and operate retail liquor stores they own as independent contractors; state Liquor Control Commission ships liquor to the contracted retail stores; bars, restaurants also buy spirits from the retail outlets; licensed private distributors handle beer and wine delivery to retail stores; in 1985 Oregon was first state in nation to require training in alcohol safety awareness for alcohol servers; became one of the first states to allow craft distilleries in 2008.

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer at grocery stores, wine and spirits at liquor stores; only 3.2 percent beer may be sold refrigerated at grocery stores; stronger beer must be sold unrefrigerated (2016)

Additional Information:

Local option; sales of alcoholic beverages by the individual drink at bars, restaurants allowed only if approved by local referendum; no sales allowed statewide on Sundays, July 4th, Memorial, Labor, Thanksgiving and Christmas days; package liquor stores must have non-transparent walls separating liquor, non-alcohol displays; no one may own more than one package liquor store; “happy hours” prohibited; no liquor stores allowed in cities of fewer than 200 people.

Fun Facts:

Grocery stores may serve refrigerated beer of only 3.2 percent alcohol by weight. Beer with higher alcohol content must be sold unrefrigerated.

Ohio

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

5:30 a.m.-2:30 a.m., Monday-Saturday, sales on Sunday with special permit; bars close at 2:30 a.m.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine grocery, spirits at liquor stores

Additional Information:

ABC member state; local option; may have special elections for Sunday sales; state manages private vendor stores (“Control Liquor Agencies”) for wholesale distribution and retail sale of all liquor with 21 percent or more alcohol by volume; state allows up to 5 liquor stores/agencies per county; state’s sole wholesale operation is run by nonprofit JobsOhio Beverage System; state choses and sets prices for liquor provided to retailers by JobsOhio; more than 24,000 private manufacturers, distributors and retailers are licensed by the state; retailers also sell beer, wine and other low-alcohol products; state law reads, “Beer, regardless of the per cent of alcohol by volume, is not intoxicating liquor..”

Fun Facts:

State law: “Beer, regardless of the percentage of alcohol by volume, is not intoxicating liquor for purposes of the revised code or any rules adopted under it.”

North Dakota

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

Local option, no dry counties; grocery or convenience stores must have a built-in section with a wall clearly separating alcohol sales from non-licensed area; no sales after 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, all Christmas Day, after 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day; unfinished bottle of wine bought at a licensed restaurant may be removed by patron if the cork is replaced inside; tap beer brewers making up to 25,000 barrels a year may sell beer to retailers if the brewer delivers at least eight barrels worth of beer to the retailer.

New York

Rating:

5 out of 5
Very wet

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer at grocery stores, wine, spirits liquor stores

Additional Information:

Local option for cities and towns; “unlimited drinks offering” law prohibits serving limitless alcoholic beverages for one price; liquor, wine stores may accept online orders and ship them directly to customers; bars, brewer-restaurants, and cabarets in cites of 20,000 or more may not be within 500 feet of three or more such businesses; liquor businesses not allowed within 200 feet of schools, places of worship; beer brewers may give out samples of no more than 3 ounces and no more than two samples to same person; distilleries may produce up to 75,000 gallons of spirits a year and sell at retail level in single quart bottles.

New Mexico

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

Local option; liquor licenses limited to one retailer or bar per 2,000 people in cities and unincorporated areas; Sunday sales to be approved by local referendum; restaurant liquor licenses require that no less than 60 percent of annual sales are derived from food; no liquor businesses permitted within 300 feet of schools, churches; patrons may take home an unfinished bottled wine after a meal at a restaurant if the cork is replaced, customer receipt attached and bottle is placed in a “tamper proof bag.”

New Jersey

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

Hours: 9 a.m.-10 p.m. daily; bars may open to 2 a.m., some in Atlantic City are 24 hours

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer at grocery stores, wine and spirits at liquor stores

Additional Information:

Local option; 7 counties are completely wet, 13 counties have at least one dry city; cities may allow on on-premises consumption license for every 3,000 people, one license for off-premise (package liquor) for every 7,500 of its population; licensee may employ 15-year-old as stock clerk working with liquor if permit is obtained; state restricts issuing new licenses, driving up the prices licensees may sell their licenses on the open market; corporate-owned market chains such as Trader Joe’s limited to selling alcohol at only two stores statewide (2016).

Fun Facts:

Patrons of legal drinking age at restaurants may take away an unfinished bottle of wine using special “doggy bags” for the wine but the bag must be placed in the trunk of the car if they are driving.

New Hampshire

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

6 a.m.-11:45 p.m. daily for stores, 6 a.m.-1 a.m. for bars, clubs

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine at grocery stores, spirits state-run liquor stores

Additional Information:

ABC state; local option; all counties wet, three cities dry (2015); state Liquor Commission controls wholesale, retail distribution of alcoholic beverages; 79 retail New Hampshire Liquor & Wine stores operating in state (2016); three state stores sell spirits and wine; 1,429 licensed stores sell wine only; no beer sales in state stores, allowed in privately-owned grocery stores with table and fortified wines; no liquor sales on Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas days; cashiers selling retail liquor may be 16 years old, waiters/waitresses serving drinks must be at least 18; “happy hours” permitted if “consistent with the spirit of public health or safety.”

Nevada

Rating:

5 out of 5
Very wet

Hours:

24 hours, daily

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

No limits on days, hours of sale; one “dry” jurisdiction (town of Panaca); state permits local governments to issue liquor licenses; excise tax of $3.60 levied per gallon of liquor of 22 percent alcohol or more by volume; then 70 cents a gallon down to 14 percent alcohol, 16 cents/gallon for beer; sellers of 22 percent or more liquor exempt from taxes if vendor had to pay $10.50 a gallon in federal taxes; liquor sold on U.S. military bases, exchanges exempt from state excise tax; wineries selling wine with less than 25 percent of its fermented fruit grown in Nevada are limited to selling 1,000 cases a year and may not sell wines from other wineries; craft distillers may make up to 40,000 cases of spirits for export and retail sales on- and off-premises a year; samples of craft distiller spirits offered to customers limited to 4 ounces each; brew pubs may manufacture to 15,000 barrels of beer a year and sell to retail outlets.

Nebraska

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

6 a.m.-1 a.m., Monday-Saturday but may be extended to 2 a.m., sales on Sundays allowed noon-2 a.m.; bars close 1 a.m. but may be extended to 2 a.m.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

Local option to change hours of liquor sales, such as on-premises consumption to 2 a.m. or for longer hours on Sunday; 137 cities and counties have some extended hours (2016); liquor businesses prohibited within 150 feet of school, place of worship, hospital, homes of indigents or “veterans and their wives and children”; micro distilleries may make up to 20,000 gallons a year, craft breweries 10,000 gallons a year and permitted to sell to wholesalers; state liquor law is to be “liberally construed to the end that the health, safety, and welfare of the people… are protected and temperance in the consumption of alcoholic liquor is fostered and promoted by sound and careful control and regulation of the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic liquor.”

Montana

Rating:

2 out of 5
Dry

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, “table” wine at grocery stores, spirits at liquor stores

Additional Information:

Local option; no dry counties, a few Native American reservations are dry or limit sales; state controls distilled spirits sold at wholesale to 97 state franchised agency stores contracted by state liquor control; state runs 100,000 square-foot warehouse where state’s supply of spirits are stored, distributed; bars, restaurants, general public buys spirits from state-contracted agency stores, which deliver the liquors to them; beer and wine sold by licensed private distributors; controversial “quota” system limits number of on-premises liquor licenses based on population.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer and light wine at grocery stores, other wine and spirits only in state-supplied liquor stores

Additional Information:

ABC state with local option; Mississippi never ratified the 21st Amendment, allowed beer in 1933 and spirits in 1966; of its 82 counties, 34 counties are dry for hard liquor, four counties are “half-dry” with one judicial district voting wet; 36 counties are dry for beer and light wine but have many cities that are wet; state ABC controls wholesale and retail sales of wine and spirits, imports, stores and sells alcoholic beverages to nearly 2,000 private individually owned retail outlets and 550 individually owned package liquor stores. No package liquor sold on Christmas.

Fun Facts:

Mississippi is among the seven states that permit open beverages for consumption within motor vehicles (the others are Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Missouri, Virginia and West Virginia). But it’s the only state that allows drivers to drink alcohol and operate a motor vehicle, that is, as long as the motorists’ blood alcohol level remains under the state’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Missouri

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

6 a.m.-1:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-midnight Sunday; licensees may obtain special permit for 6 a.m.-3 a.m. sales six times a year, cities such as St. Louis may have trade show licenses for sales to 3 a.m.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

Some local options; state offers licenses to manufacture and sell in state beer up to 5 percent alcohol by weight and up to 21 percent alcohol by weight; bars subject to regular day sales hours on Super Bowl Sunday, Sundays before Memorial and Labor days and if New Year’s Eve, New Year’s, St. Patrick’s days and July 4th fall on a Sunday; no alcohol sales within 100 feet of schools or religious facilities without consent; homemade production of 200 gallons/year for beer or wine permitted for family or personal use by two people, 100 gallons for one person; microbreweries may produce up to 10,000 barrels a year and state charges a $5 fee per 100 barrels.

Fun Facts:

It is permitted under Missouri law in general to be drunk in public, as well as to drink alcohol in public, however you may face arrest if you are drunk and disorderly at an occupied school, church or courthouse.

Minnesota

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

8 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, closed Sundays for stores; to 1 a.m. (or with 2 a.m. special permit) Monday-Saturday, closed on Sunday for bars (except restaurant, bowling centers, or hotels with bars seating for 30 or more, may serve alcohol 8 a.m.-2 a.m. Sunday, but favorable vote needed in city or county for Sunday sales)

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer at grocery stores, wine, liquor at liquor stores

Additional Information:

Local option for days, hours of sales; liquor licenses may be issued for Sunday sales only if voted in by cities or counties; state prohibits sales all day on Thanksgiving, Christmas days, after 8 p.m. Christmas Eve; state issues on- and off-premises sale licenses for 3.2 percent (by weight) beer; one off-premises license available per 5,000 people in large cities, or by local law; one on-site drinking license per 1,500 people in large cities; “brewer taproom” licenses permit beer brewers to make up to 250,000 barrels per year in the state; brewer tap rooms allowed to sell beer on Sundays; licensed wineries may produce up to 250,000 gallons a year.

Michigan

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

ABC state; state controls spirts, wine, beer at wholesale level (no retail stores), contracts with authorized distribution agents (ADAs) to deliver liquor; licenses more than 7,500 license package liquor businesses; spirits require distributor’s license, beer-wine a merchant’s license; since 2006 permits licensed U.S. wineries to direct ship to homes of Michigan residents; no liquor business within 500 feet of schools, churches unless there is no objection; patrons cannot leave with partly consumed wine bottles unless employee reinserts the cork “level with the lip of the bottle”; breweries making 30,000 barrels or more a year may sell beer for consumption on premises or for “take out” but not directly to retailers.

Massachusetts

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

State controls alcohol in cities and towns by quota system -- one all-alcohol license for bars, clubs., etc., per 1,000 people, one wine-beer only licensed bar or club per 1,000 people, one off-premise store selling liquor per 5,000 people, one wine-beer store only license per 5,000 people; all restaurants, bars, clubs serving alcohol must post a list of drink prices; no free drinks may be offered except wine tastings; no discount or special price days for drinks (“happy hours” prohibited); two-drink limit per person at one time; pitchers of beer may be served to two or more people only; no games involving drinking permitted; alcoholic beverages may not be donated or awarded as prizes; beer kegs sold at retail stores limited to two gallons.

Fun Facts:

State law prohibits bars from offering happy hour discounts on the premise that they encourage binge drinking. Massachusetts was the first state to ban happy hour but seven other states also do so: Alaska, Indiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont and Utah.

Maine

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores, spirits allowed in convenience stores

Additional Information:

Local option, but all counties are wet; state controls wholesale/retail sales, has 530 state-run ABC stores (2016); on-premise beverage servers must be at least 17 but store employees between 15 and 17 may serve beer; “Bottle Clubs” where fee-paying members bring their own alcohol may operate 6 a.m.-1 a.m. daily, to 2 a.m. New Year’s Day; customers may not possess alcohol in bars after 1:15 a.m., except for 2:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day; vaporized or powered alcohol prohibited.

Fun Facts:

State law: “No person may use or display a picture or other form of representation of the state house for the advertising of liquor.”

Louisiana

Rating:

2 out of 5
Dry

Hours:

No state-set hours, by local parish law, may be 24 hours daily; some parishes prohibit liquor sales on Sundays, some parishes allow 6 a.m.-2 a.m.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

Local option; state regulations set under Alcohol and Tobacco Control Law; 51 wet parishes, 15 wet parishes with some dry wards, villages and towns; 27 parishes prohibit Sunday sales; restaurants may serve alcohol if more than 50 percent of average monthly sales are food and non-alcoholic drinks; bars must have at least 375 square feet of space; no package liquor sold within 300 feet of public school, library, day care, religious facilities.

Fun Facts:

State law specifies that operators of so-called “blind tigers” (businesses selling liquor illegally) face up to five years in prison “with or without hard labor.”

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Additional Information:

Local option; as of 2016, there were 39 wet counties, 28 dry counties, 2 moist (with one or more wet cities) counties, 1 wet/moist (some restriction on liquor, such drinks allowed only at restaurants but no retail sales) county, and 50 dry counties with wet/moist cities or precincts; grocery stores selling sell wine or liquor required to provide separate entrance to get to liquor section; liquor sales not permitted on primary or general election days buy allowed for special elections; an 18-year-old may buy beer if accompanied by someone at least 20 years old; while Kentucky is strict about alcohol, it is the source of 95 percent of the world's bourbon.

Fun Facts:

A licensee who obtains a “sampling license” may dole out one free sample of alcohol per person per day -- up to one ounce of distilled spirits, six ounces of wine but no free beer samples are permitted. Also, licensed owners of commercial quadricycle businesses – four-wheeled cycles carrying at least 13 people for touring purposes -- may allow customers to bring unopened packages of alcoholic beverages and drink them if they are poured into “non-descriptive plastic cups after boarding and riding the quadricycle.”

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Additional Information:

Local option; state bans sales on Memorial, Labor, Thanksgiving, Christmas day, July 4th and Sundays, but counties or cities voting for “expanded hours” law may permit retail sales on Sundays from noon-8 p.m., on Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Fun Facts:

The state gives counties the option to write local liquor laws, and 64 counties require businesses to have food be at least 30 percent of sales to sell liquor, 31 have no minimum food sales law, 10 do not allow liquor to be sold by the drink and five “dry” cities do not permit any retail liquor sales.

Indiana

Rating:

2 out of 5
Dry

Hours:

7 a.m.-3 a.m. daily except Sundays

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

grocery stores, except cold beer may be sold at liquor stores only; on Sundays no liquor may be sold in stores but allowed at restaurants and wineries

Additional Information:

Gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores may not offer cold beer; bars, restaurants must clear out alcoholic beverages within 30 minutes after closing time; premises where alcohol consumed by the drink must have food service available for at least 25 people; state offers some liquor licenses for sale at auctions; liquor licensees or their employees must check identification of any person under the age of 40 on carryout sales, for those appearing under 26 years for on-premise consumption.

Fun Facts:

Holders of a beer dealer permit, such as owners of grocery and convenience stores, must not sell beer “that was iced or cooled by permitee before or at the time of sale.” In other words, proprietors of those stores must sell beer at room temperature only or risk arrest on suspicion of a Class B misdemeanor.

Iowa

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores

Additional Information:

State requires all counties to permit alcohol sales, no dry cities or counties (local option was repealed in 1972); state is the sole wholesaler of liquor, contracts with licensed private wholesalers that sell liquor, wine, beer to retailers; bars, restaurants must buy spirits from state off-premises licensees that have federal alcohol permits, wine from state-licensed wine wholesalers, beer from beer wholesalers; state keeps track of popular brands of liquor ordered by stores; licensees may not advertise brand of liquor in parking lots, elsewhere outside their businesses; “bootlegging” is selling liquor, wine or beer without a license (a serious misdemeanor); law permits state licensees to deliver orders of liquor for personal use to customers; brewery growlers of beer up to 72 ounces (for off-premises use only) must have twist top cap and “plastic heat shrink wrap band.”

Idaho

Rating:

2 out of 5
Dry

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Allowed in state-contracted retail and grocery stores along with some low-proof distilled spirits up to 14 percent alcohol; stronger spirits sold only in state-controlled ABC stores.

Additional Information:

Local option; state-run ABC stores offer stronger distilled spirits; there are 66 ABC stores, more than 100 independent contract stores; alcohol sales not permitted on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial days; state prohibits sales on Sundays but counties, cities may allow it; state will not permit a liquor store or distribution center if 50 percent or more of eligible voters living within 1,000 feet of it sign a petition opposing it.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Additional Information:

Local option; in 2011, 105 of 127 jurisdictions voted for alcohol sales on Sundays; 12 counties still prohibit Sunday sales; 6 counties prohibit all sales of distilled spirits; craft brewers may not sell to consumers but can offer paid tours with 36-ounce container of beer on premises, 64-ounce off-premises presented as a “free souvenir.”

Florida

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

7 a.m.-midnight daily; bars close 2 a.m.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine at grocery stores, spirits at liquor stores

Additional Information:

Local option; three dry counties (2016), other counties, cities have various restrictions on bar/liquor sales, hours of sale of hard liquor, beer/wine (some limit Sunday sales); Miami-Dade County allows liquor stores open 24 hours; beverages of exactly 6.234 percent alcohol by volume considered legally intoxicating; imposes limit of 153 proof on alcohol; possession of under one gallon of “moonshine whiskey” a misdemeanor, over a gallon a felony; prohibits sale of devices that mix alcohol products with pure oxygen or other gases for inhalation.

Fun Facts:

State law permits the wives, husbands or relatives of addicted “habitual drunkards” to give written notice to local alcohol sellers not to serve them alcoholic drinks, and thereafter selling alcohol to such a person is punishable as a misdemeanor.

District of Columbia

Rating:

5 out of 5
Very wet

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine allowed at grocery, spirits in liquor stores.

Additional Information:

Class C permits allow making of “alcohol-infused confectionary food products” with from 0.5 percent to 5 percent alcohol by volume; makers of wine and beer may offer on-site sales of their products 1 p.m.-9 p.m.; wine manufacturers may sell wine, cider and mead (fermented honey and water) with up to 15 percent alcohol by volume; moratoriums set on new retail liquor licenses in Georgetown, parts of Dupont Circle and several other neighborhoods.

Delaware

Rating:

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

9 a.m.-1 a.m. daily, noon-8 p.m. Sunday; bars close 1 a.m.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Liquor stores

Additional Information:

Bars, liquor stores not allowed to sell on Thanksgiving, Easter or Christmas; cities of 50,000 people or more may have earlier closing hours or limit sales to four hours on Sundays; 200 gallons of homemade wine or beer allowed for personal, non-sale use per year; service of alcohol may be refused to a person who “habitually drinks alcoholic liquor to excess”; bars may serve a person no more than one alcoholic beverage less than 15 minutes before closing each day.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Additional Information:

Local option, no dry counties. State has only law in nation where wholesalers set a monthly minimum “bottle price” for alcoholic drinks to help small package liquor stores and prevent big chains from offering discounted prices through bulk sales. Allows 18-year-olds to serve liquor.

3 out of 5
Middle of the road

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer grocery store, wine and spirits liquor stores

Additional Information:

Local option permitted, but no dry jurisdictions; in 2016 came the biggest modifications in state liquor laws since Prohibition: stores that may sell only 3.2 percent alcohol by weight beer allowed to offer higher percentage brews by 2019; grocery store chains in 2016 permitted only one statewide liquor license to sell wine, spirits and full-strength beer would have up to five such licenses in 2017, 20 licenses by 2032 and no limits after 2037.

Fun Facts:

State law: “Liquor stores are prohibited from the sale of food items except those approved by the state licensing authority that are prepackaged, labeled, directly related to the consumption of liquor, and are sold in containers up to 16 ounces for the purpose of cocktail garnish. Liquor-licensed drug stores are not subject to prohibitions or requirements regarding sale of food items.”

California

Rating:

5 out of 5
Very wet

Hours:

6 a.m.-2 a.m. daily

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery, liquor stores

Additional Information:

Local option, but no dry countries or cities; no liquor sold within 600 feet of schools, playgrounds or youth facilities; limits one retail liquor sales license per 2,000 people, one off-premises liquor or beer and wine license per 2,500 people in a city or county; craft distillers may make maximum 100,000 gallons/year; direct sales of wine to consumers via online permitted; licensed breweries must operate a restaurant attached to their business in order to sell beers produced by other breweries; an adult allowed to make 100 gallons of beer or wine a year for personal use, 200 gallons for two adults for more.

Arizona

Rating:

4 out of 5
Wet

Hours:

6 a.m.-2 a.m. daily, service stops in bars at 2:30 a.m.

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Grocery stores; may provide residential delivery

Additional Information:

No dry counties allowed. Bars, stores, restaurants, etc. must buy alcohol from wholesalers; in-state farm wineries making under 20,000 gallons a year and in-state distilleries under 1,189 gallons a year may ship to private customers; microbreweries limited to wholesale, on-site sales, up to 6.2 million gallons of beer a year.

Alaska

Rating:

1 out of 5
Very dry

Hours:

8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Liquor stores only

Additional Information:

Local option; of 108 local option communities, 33 ban all sales, importation and possession of alcohol; 42 ban sales and importation; 22 ban sales; 7 allow sales by local-operated license only; 5 require license for specific types of alcohol (2016). In some communities it may be a felony crime to import alcohol. State tracks alcohol sold by mail from liquor stores, may impose monthly limits on purchases. Sales banned statewide on election days until polls close.

Fun Facts:

No one may furnish or deliver an alcoholic beverage to someone under age 21 with the exception of “a parent to the parent's child, by a guardian to the guardian's ward, or by a person to the legal spouse of that person if the furnishing or delivery occurs off licensed premises” or if it is provided “by a licensed physician or nurse to a patient in the course of administering medical treatment.”

Alabama

Rating:

2 out of 5
Dry

Hours:

Beer, Wine and Spirits:

Beer, wine at grocery stores; spirits/other liquor sold by state wholesale spirits from Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) stores

Additional Information:

ABC state; local option by ballot measure;; 43 “wet” counties, 24 “dry” counties with 55 “wet” cities; 27 counties and cities permit some liquor sales on Sunday (2016); only state is allowed to deliver spirits; has 175 ABC stores; state-run stores closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s days; state controls wholesale sale of spirits to retail stores, restaurants, bars; consumers may buy wine from state wineries for personal use, if imported out of state must be sent to ABC store, authorization form required.